Ken O'Dowd (Flynn, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I would like to talk for a moment on the diversity of my electorate of Flynn and some of the achievements for which I have been proud to be the representative for Flynn since 2010. I sit with my constituents and I am very proud to represent them in parliament.

Flynn covers an area of approximately 133,000 square kilometres—twice the size of Tasmania. I have 129 schools. Some people question why I give out so many flags! There are 26 hospitals, 51 Anzac Day ceremonies, 24 agriculture shows—I try to attend most of them. We have three coal fired power stations, namely Gladstone, Callide and Stanwell. They produce about 4,845 megawatts of electricity. We could actually be called the energy capital of Australia.

We have the largest LNG export terminal. We have three plants on Curtis Island, and they will be in full production this year, so that should give good royalties back to the Queensland government and also economic benefits to our nation. Northern Oil—or Southern Oil, as some people call them—is an exciting new industry for the area. They turn waste matter into fine base oil stock.

In commodities Flynn is known for coal, gas, oil, beef production, grain, orchards, citrus, cotton, timber, macadamia nuts, sugar cane—and the list goes on. Blueberries are another new and exciting product for the area. The Port of Gladstone is one of the major export facilities in Queensland.

Over my time in this place I have been proud to fight for my electorate. I know that money is short and we cannot always get everything we want, but we always keep trying. Some of my favourite wins for Flynn have been the $170 million investment on the Bruce Highway in Yeppoon South; the Gladstone Trade Skills Centre, improving trade training for young people; and Trinity College classroom upgrades, with over $1 million invested by the Commonwealth government in that great secondary school. There are the Blackwater and Emerald aquatic centres. Emerald loves their improved pool. $5.4 million of Commonwealth funds was invested there. In Blackwater we are about to open a new pool; I believe the date has been set in March. That has been a $6.5 million investment of a total investment of $16 million for Blackwater. This makes Blackwater a more liveable area. When you are talking about fly-in fly-out, that is where we can help to make Blackwater a more liveable centre and get families to stay and work in Blackwater.

GP superclinics were completed at Gladstone and Emerald at $5 million each. Extending the Emerald Airport apron for $3.8 million has been another of our success stories. We have replaced seven old bridges across the eight councils in my electorate, and the Callide Creek Bridge, at $2.3 million, is one of those. The Monduran Road Bridge near Bundaberg and Gin Gin is about to be re-opened, and that will service the citrus and cattle growers in that area. Deep Creek Bridge near Gayndah and Mundubbera was another $2.2 investment in an old bridge. These bridges were built back in the 1940s and 1950s.

Twenty-four mobile towers have been extremely needed, especially in the Boyne Valley area, and either have been built or are on the program to be built. Thirty thousand homes and businesses have been connected to the NBN.

We as a government abolished the ill-conceived and highly destructive Road Safety Remuneration Tribunal. That tribunal was a bastardly act to get rid of our owner-drivers. We had seen the rally down here on the lawns.

The Gayndah disaster recovery centre, a $1.1 million project, will provide a better facility for emergency services to monitor and manage emergent situations like floods and fires. We were devastated throughout 2011 and 2013 with floods through the upper Burnett and down, of course, into Bundaberg, a town which has been flattened twice in two years and needed a lot of fixing and a lot of repairs. (Time expired)

House adjourned at 16:59